Winterizing an RV water system isn’t just recommended, it’s necessary. Without taking the proper precaution and preparing your rig for winter, you risk pipes freezing and damage to the water system, which spells trouble when you go to take your first trip of the spring. To winterize your RV’s water system, you have to attach an air hose to the exterior water main and shoot compressed air through the lines of each of your appliances to remove any residual water.
In most cases, winterizing an RV water system is a process that requires two sets of hands; one to engage the air hose outside the vehicle, and one to open the faucets inside. You may not have another set of hands to help you in the process, so we have a quick trick you can use to make winterizing an RV water system a one-man job. In this lesson, we teach you how to craft a simple tool that eliminates the need for someone to hold the exterior end of the line.
Winterizing an RV water system with an old garden hose
If you’ve ever gone through the process of winterizing an RV water system, you know that it’s impossible to do on your own, right? Wrong! With a few simple household items and a little jury rigging, you can forget about having to call over a friend and do it all by yourself. RV expert Dave Solberg teaches you how to make a quick and easy tool that utilizes an old garden hose, air chuck and worm clamp to attach an air compressor to your water line.
With this basic rig for winterizing an RV water system, you can turn on the air and do what you need to do inside — open each faucet individually to clear out leftover water from your appliances and protect your pipes for hibernation. Try out this easy tip, and you’ll be done winterizing in no time!
They have male air chucks for air compressors that fit in to the female RV water inlets, if you don’t want to make one up from an old hose.
How do you assure that your water pump doesn’t have any water left in it using this method?
Hello Jeffrey,
You bring up a valid point that was not covered in the video, draining the
fresh water tank and running the water pump prior to blowing out the
lines. You should drain the tank using the drain valve, then run the
pump with one faucet open until it spits air. This will drain the
water out of the pump and then you can do all the other lines faster with
the air method. Thanks for the catch, we did cover this in another
video but as we piece some of these into segments, the info gets lost in
other clips!Â
Thanks again!
David RVRC Video Membership
A very neat idea. I am going to make me one this afternoon.
I have a method that does not require a compressor – because not everyone has one. I first drain the water heater tank. Next I activate my bypass valves for the water heater. Then I fill the fresh water tank with 4 jugs – 4 liters each – of non toxic antifreeze ( it’s pink in colour ). I then turn on each water using devices – the sinks, the shower and the toilet – making sure to flush each one until both the hot and cold run pink. At the start of a new season simply drain the fresh water tank of the antifreeze, refill a couple of times with fresh water and then flush the antifreeze from the sinks, shower and toilet.
Thank you for a great idea
QUESTION….. SO IF YOU DON’T HAVE AN AIR COMPRESSOR. IS THERE ANY OTHER WAY TO WINTERIZE WATER SYSTEM
Hi, Teresa. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your winterizing question. Yes, there are two ways to winterize, blowing all the water out of the system with compressed air, or running RV antifreeze into the lines to protect them, which RV owner do when they do not have an air compressor. You will need several gallons of RV antifreeze depending on your model and the amount of water lines and such. There are several videos on the site both free and premium showing this procedure. Here is the premium one which does have a good free overview.
https://www.rvrepairclub.com/video/learn-how-to-winterize-an-rv-007841/feed/
Great video, thanks. How do you handle a unit that has a fridge with both a water and ice dispenser as well as a combination washer/dryer? Thank you for your response.
Hi, Jim. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your winterizing question. To provide more specific information on winterizing both the refrigerator and washer/dryer we need to know the make, model, and year of the appliances. Most RV refrigerators have a water supply line coming in from the back accessible from the outside vent and you can remove the line, blow out the supply line and cycle the ice and water function to get all the water out. Same with the washer, disconnect the supply line, blow out all the water, and run the wash cycle until all the water is out.